(1982-84)

Typical College Band, we were all 16 or 17 years old. Mixed set list with rock’n’roll covers and partly “germanized” versions of rock classics plus some own songs. The band played some 10 gigs in those 2 years. Different musical preferences created some tension in the band, and then some of us were just ready with school and had to leave. Finally the band split after a legendary gig at the youth sports festival in Stuttgart.

(1987-1990)

Founded by three students during learning sessions. Over time it developed into a hobby band without serious ambitions or even gigs. Nevertheless a good playground for me to test own songs and learn how to keep a band together. 1990 I left in order to concentrate on PAM. The band ceased to exist some time later after some more fluctuation. The ones I remember playing with the band at least for a while:

(1988-1991)

For sure the band that influenced me the most. Complete Bio and lots of information on www.pamband.de
The band consequently concentrated on own songs, in the beginning all written by Chris Frank, and over time I could bring in some of mine as well. Or better: some of my fragments developed into songs with Chris’ and the bands’ support and help. „Way of life“ is one of them, and „Free yourself“ as well. We had gigs around Stuttgart, took part in competitions and were good on our way. But somehow it wasn’t yet enough, and we disagreed about the next steps to take. Some wanted to cover songs in order to get more gigs, and the typical and annoying disputes took place. Mastermind Chris had enough and founded another band project. Some months later he left for Hamburg, and PAM became…

(1992-1996)

Now I was the front man, whether I wanted or not. In principle I wanted, and I started to write more songs in order to avoid becoming just another cover band. In the end the concept for the set list was to have three equal portions, one being my own songs, the second one some of Chris’ ones (he allowed us to do so), and the third one a hand full of covers which fitted to our setup with two saxophones. Selected material, not the typical stuff which all cover bands use to play. Robert Cray, Eurythmics, Gary Moore, the Doobies. From time to time we had a gig, but not more than one or two per year. Finally I tried to switch to german and translated some of my songs, even though English is so much easier to sing, and we fired the keyboarder. As our last activity we recorded a CD with six songs of mine, two from Chris which I translated as well, a song by Counting Crows for which I wrote a german text that I still like today, plus a sort of fragment that evolved during the recording session and which I, much later, translated into English then (“Hope or desperation”). We produced 10 copies of the CD and took ‘em home with us. Then we parted, and three out of the five left Stuttgart.

(1998-2003)

Having moved to Schweinfurt due to professional reasons, I joined a duo which played entertainment music at all kind of events. A very instructive period with respect to harmony vocals, rehearsal discipline, singing while bass playing, event organisation and so on. I owe my two mates quite much, and they were patient with me. The extension with a third man, however, offered them much more possibilities to enhance their set list and their range of styles. In the end the musical portfolio contained Country, Rock, Oldies, Singalongs and a hand full of dance numbers. We played some 5 or 6 gigs per year, more was just not possible besides job and family, and 2003 I quit after all with very mixed feelings. We never lost contact since then, met for sessions and played a hand full of events together just for fun, and since last year Chris O is playing the drums with the High Field Band.

/ ERRATICS (2017 – )

Right after having moved to Schweinfurt I met two guys who were very much into blues rock and especially ZZ Top, and they used to sit together in their free time, trying to train themselves to play the guitar. They were looking for somebody to teach them all those famous riffs and licks: La Grange, Dust my broom, Sharp dressed man, Fool for your stockings, I thank you, Tush and so on. We met several times and made friends. Over time, a band evolved out of these sessions, without public ambitions, just for fun and for the sake of playin’ together. Some more cover songs were added to the program, by Bad Company and Otis Redding, Westernhagen, Hootie&the Blowfish and so on. But also here I tore the rip cord in 2003 for professional reasons again, even though I jumped in as session musician from time to time later on, even on drums, and I played two gigs with the boys of which one even found its way into bavarian television. Nowadays and after quite some fluctuation around the two founders, they call themselves the ERRATICS. Some months ago they asked me to play a farewell concert for their old drummer with ‘em, and I joined them for two more gigs this summer. They’re doin’ really good now, and it’s fun to play with ‘em. The next shows in early 2018 are already fixed.

(2000-2003)

A group of unionists, looking for combattants and fellows for the annual charity concert for the women’s house in Schweinfurt. I could choose some songs to feature at the gig, and I played bass or guitar in some others. The set list contained roughly 30 songs, and there were two or three more special guests besides me. The band setup used to change from song to song, most of the members were multi instrumentalists. All in all I played four of these concerts and featured quite some rare songs which I wouldn’t have dared to play with any other band, such as “Der Traum ist aus” by the legendary german political rock band Ton Steine Scherben, but also songs by Stefan Stoppok, Big Country or David Lindley. Plus the fastest ever recorded version of Eurythmics’ “When tomorrow comes”. Or Kraftwerks “Model” with my 11 years old daughter Isi on keyboards. Great moments with great people and musicians.

(2009-today)

During the economic downturn in 2009, the atmosphere in the company I work in was depressed and negative, but a colleague of mine had an idea. An event from employees for employees. He started to look for artists of all kind in our workforce, actors, singers, dancers, bands, and set up a program for the evening. And he founded a band, initially as a Blues Brothers copy act. During the rehearsals the musicians got appetite for more, and the story began. Seven years later, Platform No 6 is in principle still a company band, but we’re also playing at charity events outside SKF. The fluctuation of the early days has ended, we’ve enlarged our set list to more than 30 songs, amongst them a small hand full of my own ones, and it goes on. The band played in the factories of Luechow and Muehlheim, in Bamberg, in Gothenburg/Sweden, in Steyr, in Bodenmais and even in Wuerzburg state prison. Most important to us is our common mission, the joy and fun of playing music together. We’re working hard on the quality of our performance, but we’re not aiming to compete with professional cover bands.

(2011-today)

The best infos on this one you’ll find again on www.pamband.de.
Chris F and myself found each other again on StayFriends, more by accident and some 18 or 19 years after we once parted. Chris visited me in Schwienfurt, and we started to think a reunion with just five of us. No female vocalists, no horns. In autumn 2011 five guys in the middle of the 40s met for a weekend workshop, and since then we’re doing this twice a year. We’re not playing the old songs, but new material written by either Chris or myself, we’re doing audio and video recordings and issue ‘em on youtube. Not aiming for professional quality of course, none of us has enough time for doing so. We’re all fathers, and we’re all hard workers in our respective jobs. Nevertheless these workshops are intensive and productive sessions, focussing on music and nothing else. Far away from five buddies having a fun weekend…we know each other well and respect us deeply, and we’re working on our songs with energy and passion. We know we won’t be able to do live gigs in this constellation being spread all over Germany from Hamburg to Freiburg, even if we did it once at my 50st birthday in 2014. However, to me this band is the ideal formation to test my songs and to work on fragments. Several of my last songs were finished during these sessions, were recorded as samples for the other bands with which I intend to play the songs later on, or even kept on videos…

(*2015)

“My” band. It took so long until I dared to give it one more try to found a band focusing on my own songs. It started at the new year’s event of the green party, where my wife was acting as chairwoman of the Schweinfurt section. I was invited to play there, and so I asked the best musicians I know to accompany me. We played 10 of my own songs plus some carefully selected covers from Neil Young to Tracy Chapman. This went pretty fine, and we decided to record an album in our own. This happened from January to August 2016, and since September it’s ready. End of November we issued it on all major internet stores as well. All revenues generated by the album are donated for charity purposes. With this band, I am focusing on acoustic guitars more than before, there are hardly any electric guitar solos left, instead Albrecht is the main soloist with his trumpet. The songs are breathing transparency in this setup, the vocal harmonies have become the main element, and the instruments are doing a precise but decent job. In a way, the songs as such and consequently the lyrics have gained importance. Typical for a singer/songwriter maybe, at least it’s the way I prefer to do music and especially my songs nowadays.